boxer141c

So I received my OEM slip on Leather seat covers and it is much harder than expected. Basically it comes with Hog rings, hog ring pliers and the 4 pieces of leather. Cutting the old rings off is pretty tough. By the time I am done doing that my gripping strength is done. Now I am really struggling with putting these Hog rings in the cracks of the seats. On turtorials they make it look so easy. I dont know if its because I have a cheap $2 pair of hog ring pliers that came with the kit or if its because I just suck at doing it. I am using my old foam becaust it is not damaged. Any advice would be appreciated.

65Z01

What year Vette; what type of seats??

When I did new foam & leather on my '88 it was a major struggle & pita but results were well worth the effort.

JackDidley

I did my 87 about 10 years ago. It is hard on the hands. Some places you can try small zip ties to pull things together. Just take your time. I did one seat one day, the other the next.

boxer141c

It a 1984 and the seats are for not sport.

boxer141c

[QUOTE=JackDidley;1587454964]I did my 87 about 10 years ago. It is hard on the hands. Some places you can try small zip ties to pull things together. Just take your time. I did one seat one day, the other the next.

hmm zip ties sound like a good idea

N227GB

You are scaring me!

I've done stuff like put a new headliner in a Cessna 195, but never tackled seat upholstery. I need to pull apart my passenger seat to fix a frozen recline gear. Doing the blood pressure cuff lumbar retrofit is in the cards too.

Just started doing some research on the disassembly sequence, but it seems the threads I've found have pictures from deleted photobucket accounts. Can any of you guys share some tips and pictures?

Thanks!

aj1988

Pulling the seat bottom is pretty easy. Just put the seat all the way back and it is easy to reach just under the front of the seat and pull the wire retainer down and back. You can then just lift the front of the seat and get the bottom out (non sport seats). To put it back in I have found it is easier to sit in the seat and get the wire back into position.

aj1988

Not the best pic and I know I needed to vac seats, but this shows what mine looked like when I got done.

N227GB

That's what complicates things - I have sport seats with controls in the bolsters. The article in the tech sticky didn't cover them. I'm possibly over thinking this and just need to carefully start the work.

aj1988

Maybe someone will answer, but I also have a 91 with sport seats and when I took the seat bottom out to vac under the seat there were a bunch of hoses that attach to the inflation system. Didn't feel like fooling around so just stuck the vac hose under the seat bottom and then put the seat back.

65Z01

Well that's a real plus when it comes to doing the seat backs in particular.
When I did new leather over new foam I used some very large sewing needles with SS picture frame wire pushed up through the foam to loop aroung the seat cover wires. Then it was (relatively) easy to pull the seat cover wire down close to the seat foam wire in order to hog-ring the two together.

Our sport seat bottoms release like the others, with the rectangular spring hook under the seat front.

As you suspect the real "fun" comes from all the bolster controls.

I used a small flat-blade to carefully pry apart the three hoses from their connector. These plastic connectors are old, brittle and somewhat prone to breakage.

All the electrical connectors, though not so difficult, are rather numerous making it "fun" during reassembly.